Microsoft will begin notifying Windows XP users -- starting Saturday -- via pop-up notification that April 8 will mark the end of Microsoft support for Windows XP.

Windows XP users still running the Home or Professional versions of the product and who have been getting their updates to XP via Windows Update will get a notification on their desktop screen reminding them of the April 8 end-of-support date. Users can turn off the notifications via a check box. If they don't, they will be reminded on the 8th of every month until the notifications are disabled. The notification also will include a link to Microsoft's Windows XP End of Support web site.

Also this week, Microsoft is making available a free transfer tool, called PCmover Express for Windows XP, which copies users' files and settings from an PC to a new machine running Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 8.1. The tool, developed by Laplink, will let users customize exactly what they want to move to a new Windows machine over their home or work networks.

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PCmover Express will be available for download in English starting later this week on Windowsxp.com as well as French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish coming later in March and it will be available in Korean, Chinese, Russian, and Brazilian Portuguese after that. Users who don't want to wait for the tool to be released in their local languages can get Laplink's tool by downloading it from Microsoft's Download Center.

About the author

Mary Jo Foley has been a tech journalist for almost 30 years. She is editor of ZDNet's "All About Microsoft" blog. She authored "Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era" and co-hosts the "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWiT Network.
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